tucked into her
Diving headlong into the dig, archaeology
student Orlando Jaen is lowered to retrieve
one of the mummies from an especially tight
spot (left). The young girl had been hit by
lightning and partly burned, but the team
is amazed by the preservation of her face
(center). Snow and insulating foam (right)
keep the mummies from thawing before
trucks with dry ice arrive to take them back
to the city of Salta.
MONG THE INCA, human sacrifices
were rare and were intended as spe
cial offerings to the gods. Children
were considered purer than
adults; indeed a sacrificed child
was believed to have been so honored as to
have in effect become deified-a direct repre
sentative of the people, living with the gods
forever after. Such children would themselves
be worshiped from afar.
On Llullaillaco the sacrifices probably took
place in December, during the South Ameri
can summer, when temperatures were higher
and there was less snow. The closest Inca
administrative center of any importance was
at Catarpe, near present-day San Pedro de
Atacama, some 120 miles to the north in
Chile. But the styles of the textiles, statues,
and pottery indicate that they originated in
Cuzco, Peru, about a thousand miles to the
north. People living near Llullaillaco must have
believed the mountains controlled weather as
well as the fertility of animals and abundance of
crops in the region-which is why people still
worship the mountains today. The Inca author
ities in Cuzco-the seat of the empire-knew
that making offerings on sacred mountains was
a way to incorporate those deities into the state
religion, giving themselves greater control over
the outlying people they subjugated.
Accounts written after the Spanish conquest
describe months-long pilgrimages and even
name the sacrificial children. In some cases a
child was offered by his parents, who may have
accompanied him on the journey. Local people
would also assist the priests in ceremonies, per
haps with religious dances and drinking, until
the procession reached its destination.
More ceremonies would have attended the
long climb to the summit, which may have
taken three days. Inca sacrifices reportedly
died by being buried alive, by strangulation,
or by a blow to the head-which is how the
Ice Maiden died. The Llullaillaco children,
however, have benign expressions and bear
no obvious physical scars, suggesting that they
died while unconscious or semiconscious,
probably stupefied by a combination of ritual
alcoholic drinks and altitude.
After two weeks on the summit the altitude
was wearing us down, and provisions were
running low, but we had accomplished every
thing I'd hoped to do. After we had filled in the
INCA MUMMIES: FROZEN IN TIME